7 Tips for Effective Trainings
We’ve probably all been there at some point. Blank eyes staring at you. People on their phones, probably scrolling through Instagram. Someone yawned. Hands down it’s the worst kind of training to be in, whether you’re the trainer or participant.
Any honest trainer worth their salt would like participants to gain the most out of their sessions. And for me, that’s the position I’ve found myself to be in, a couple of years back.
I’ve conducted trainings for teachers on how they can better deliver lessons so that students who were from underprivileged backgrounds can gain the most out of it and break out of the cycle of poverty.
Below are 7 things I’ve learnt over the years of teaching and conducting trainings. Where necessary, I’ve included examples from a photography workshop to illustrate my point. I trust you will find them practical.
One: Audience
We all are passionate and excited about our respective fields where we have the opportunity to train others in. So much so that we obsess with WHAT we want to deliver and not to WHOM we are delivering it.
One thing to remember is to always ask the host about the audience make-up. Some questions include:
What age groups are represented?
What backgrounds (industry, interest, etc.) do they come from?
How many in the audience have prior exposure to the topic in question?
And so on.
Your audience will connect with your content when you have prepared it accurately for them.
Two: Objectives
If you can give your audience value, that would qualify as a good session. Value don’t just happen. You need to plan it. This is where SMART objectives come in handy.
There are many definitions of SMART objectives around the web. In my practice, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound.
Trainers often offload a ton of information onto participants, thinking that more content equals better value. I disagree. Anyone can Google something these days and find all the information they need on any given topic.
A trainer needs go beyond that and leave something practical in the hands of participants so that they can immediately use it when they go back. Having objectives holds you the trainer accountable to plan the session well.
It ensures that you begin with the end in mind. It helps you to focus the scope of you content and forces you to think of the time factor. I’ve seen brilliant, knowledgable people who fail to plan their sessions well, resulting in them not finishing their material within time. Worse still, they rush through the points and the participants are left to do their own homework on how to apply it.
Be SMART, your audience will appreciate you for it.
Three: Start with WHY
You want people to care about the topic you are about to present. You want them to see the RELEVANCE of the topic. The why.
Unless people can see why they need that information in their lives, they are probably not going to be interested in it. Starting with why establishes this relevance for them. It sets them in the right frame of mind.
When you present them with new knowledge throughout your session, they now have a reason to care and pay attention.
Photography example:
Assuming it’s a beginner workshop, I might start by presenting a common problem people face when taking photos: it’s either too dark or too bright. Otherwise, it’s blur. I’ll show them bad photos which were taken without the understanding of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. Then I’ll show them good photos and tell them that it is possible for them to take perfect shots by the end of the workshop so that they will never have bad photos of their families or friends ever again.
If it sounds like a late-night infomercial, that’s only because informercial copywriters have perfected the art of present-them-a-problem-and-give-them-the-solution.
They know how to start with why.
Four: Problem Sets
“I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand.” — Confucius
Problem sets are practice components which aids learning. Like in college. But don’t be put off by its connection to college life. Preparing problem sets increases the effectiveness of your training by leaps and bounds because it gives your participants an opportunity to practice.
This is especially important for technical skills which requires people to work with some material in order to learn it. In practicing, they are likely to face problems and this allows you to address it immediately.
I’ve once observed a training on Microsoft Excel where the trainer came prepared with good looking slides, his content all laid out in bite sized chunks and it seems that it would be a good session. I’m sure you know where this is leading.
Indeed, at the end of the presentation, when his participants had understood the concept and is eager to try out their new-found skill, they couldn’t because they had no data of their own to try out. They did not bring any and the trainer had not prepared them either.
I dare say that they had forgotten most of what they’ve learnt by the time they reached home.
Five: TED Time
20-minute slots are what I call TED Time. The reason why TED talks are generally structured as 20-minute presentations is because that is the average attention span of an adult.
Thus, if you have long sessions, switching up your activity every 20 minutes or so will help keep the session fresh and prevent excessive yawning and fidgeting among your participants.
Ideally, breaking up the session means that you have separate activities planned out for each TED Time.
However, if it’s just not possible to have an activity for whatever reason, then it’s good to take a break at the 20 minute mark, get people to think about what they’ve learnt so far or take some questions from the audience.
If not, throw them a quiz! After listening for 20 minutes, their brains will welcome the change.
Photography example:
Let’s say I’m training on photography composition.
First TED Time: I’ll explain why composition matters. I’ll show them some common, pleasing compositions and some “bad” ones. I’ll go through how they can position the subject in the frame to make it a pleasing composition.
Second TED Time: I’ll get people to take 5 shots of different compositions so that they get to practice it. I’ll circulate around the class and comment on various shots. This will invariably raise discussions on what is good and bad compositions so I’ll be able to address questions which arise.
Final TED Time: I’ll recap what I’ve presented and what they’ve just practiced. I’ll throw in a couple of pro-tips and wrap it up.
Six: Clean slides
People are there to learn from YOU, not the slides. Nothing is a greater put off than a trainer who reads off their slides throughout the session. It shows a great lack of preparation.
That shows me that the trainer has not taken the time to think of how to engage participants. Even if it’s a lecture, I’d expect salient points to be put on slides while the lecturer discusses them with the participants conversationally.
Some people have the habit of squeezing as much information into a slide as possible. I disagree with this practice. Even if you have only 3 key points for the session: spread it out over 3 slides, use large legible fonts and contrasting colours to aid reading.
Do it this way so that it’s easier for people to get the point you are trying to make and not be distracted with irrelevant information.
Seven: Conclude and recap
My experience as a teacher has drilled this into me. This is important as it reinforces learning, especially when it is a long session you are conducting. People probably have forgotten what you taught them at the beginning of the day by the time you’re done. Recapping learning points and reiterating the ‘why’ will help them remember.
It also serves as a checkpoint for people who may have missed certain content and this would be an opportunity for them to ask you. While this may seem obvious and unnecessary, remember that we all learn through repetition and doing. These two go hand in hand.
Conclusion
As a new trainer or one looking to get better, I was anxious each time I conducted a training. What I’ve learnt is that putting up a false strong front doesn’t help me feel more comfortable.
My anxiety would bleed into presentation and people will get the sense that I am uncomfortable. In moments like these, I’ve learnt to not be afraid to admit my anxiety and joke about it with the audience; I would just be genuine with my participants.
“If you actually go on stage and you’re still feeling nervous, it’s okay just to tell the audience that. Audiences like honesty; they will actually embrace people.”
— Chris Anderson, TED
At the end of the day, just remember that you are not there to impress anyone, but to deliver content and help people learn. As long as learning is taking place, other things are secondary.
Creative Lead by day, writer by night, husband and dad throughout. I write about things that interest me and lessons I’ve learnt. My views are my own. Check out other things I’ve written.
